Strong sense of place is tied to strong sense of past

Lawns and trails. Lagoon and forest. Architecture, agriculture and gardens. All these make up the landscape that is Royal Roads University and all give the campus its strong sense of place; so strong, in fact, that few arrive on campus without feeling its effect.

“To enter the campus of Royal Roads is to enter another world. On my first visit, I felt I had landed in my ideal Land of Oz”, said Canadian artist Robert Bateman at the launch of the university’s Legacy Campaign in April 2008.

The campus has been described – and, in fact, designated – as an evolved cultural landscape and that’s, perhaps, where the magic comes from. If a cultural landscape is a place where people have made a mark on the land, an evolved cultural landscape is one where the land has made a mark on the people as well.

How?

“Evolved cultural landscapes complement, rather than conceal, the legacies of previous occupants,” says Dr. Allan Cahoon, RRU president. “I believe that’s what makes Royal Roads special and what provides us with such a unique learning and teaching environment.”

Walk inland from the Boat House where the RRU Foundation has its offices (#32 on the campus map) to the Gate House (#9) where RRU Visitor Services has its offices and you'll see this “evolution” firsthand. First, the shoreline where First Nations people fished for herring and gathered berries; then the lawns where the Dunsmuir family located their Hatley Castle (#1); and then the escarpment, north of the castle and to the west, where the Department of National Defence constructed its academic buildings (#21, #22, #23).

Each change, whether by destiny or design, preserves the integrity of the former landscape and the result is a “sense of past” . . . the secret to what makes RRU’s campus so memorable for so many and one of the main reasons that the federal government designated the Hatley Park estate as a national historic site in 1995.

Two new facilities are scheduled to be built at Royal Roads soon:

• an academic building and;

• an art and environmental education centre

The academic building, to be known as the Learning and Innovation Centre, will be located behind the Grant Building and will provide Royal Roads learners, faculty and staff with contemporary educational technology and learning facilities.

The Robert Bateman Art and Environmental Education Centre, to be built on a former farm field south of the Cedar Building, will showcase the latest in green building technology, offer environmental education programming and house an extensive collection of donated originals, prints, photographs, archival material, sketch books and correspondence from Robert and Birgit Bateman.

Before construction begins on either, though, Royal Roads University is working to ensure both buildings will respect the distinctive features of its campus as an evolved cultural landscape.

“Our overarching priority will be to ensure that construction of these two new facilities respects the Hatley Park National Historic Site’s Commemorative Integrity Statement, “ says Dan Tulip, RRU’s Vice President and Chief Financial Officer. “This key document not only defines the heritage values of the site; it outlines objectives for managing the cultural resources to ensure the site is protected, for all time, for the people of Canada.”

Creating a public university from a former military college has not been easy.

The requirement for new, purpose-built facilities was not part of the university’s original short-term plans.

In 2001, though, a consultative design process quickly made clear that a campus intended to house and educate 300 military cadets would not be able to accommodate the university’s significant growth and early success. It was determined then that new facilities would inevitably have to be built and it was also clear that they’d have to be integrated into a broader development plan.

The result was a Campus Plan – updated in 2006 and in the process of being updated again for 2009 – that mapped potential development options. It identified locations for new construction and put forward general ideas about the architectural character of the future campus.

“Construction of two new buildings to accommodate our evolution as a university is basically our way of adding our footprint to the cultural landscape,” says Cahoon.

It was 1997 when MP David Anderson – then Transport Minister representing Minister of Canadian Heritage Sheila Copps – announced that Hatley Park had been designated a site of national historic and architectural significance. Anderson noted at the time that “the site’s integration of architecture and landscape contributed to its sense of place”.

These words are echoed today, more than 10 years later, by Robert Bateman:

“I found myself moving through the ancient forests and past the man-made history of architecture and gardens. This is, and was, a place of beauty and respect – respect not only for the past but for the future.”

And they’re words that will undoubtedly echo again 10 and 20 years from now.